Satellite-ATM networking and call performance evaluation for multimedia broadband services

Abstract

Currently, there is a huge increase in the demand for satellite communications operating at the Ka-frequency bands; several different systems have been proposed and are under development worldwide. In this paper, we investigate the design issues for the satellite protocol architecture that best satisfies the interconnection to the Broadband Integrated Services Digital Network (B-ISDN). The latest developments in broadband satellite communications aim to support a wide range of applications. These systems are designed to provide high quality multimedia services to remote user terminals. Furthermore, the mechanism that needs to be implemented in order to satisfy certain Grade Of Service' (GoS) and Quality Of Service (QoS) criteria is discussed. A new methodology for the call performance evaluation of the Available Bit Rate (ABR) service class in a satellite Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM) network is proposed. Results at call level for different mix of service classes are presented using both analytical and simulation models. The simulation model was developed using OPNET modeller and it was used to record statistics that cannot be easily obtained by analysis.